Datings of sheep and dog bone samples from a so-called ‘Sámi circular offering site’ at Bealjalgnai in Karasjok Municipality, Finnmark, Norway, show that they were deposited in the Middle Ages. They are among the earliest dated bones from such structures, and the sheep is the oldest known example from this part of inland Finnmark. Isotope analyses show that the dog lived primarily on aquatic foodstuffs, ...

A scientific field is a constant process, and, as all processes, it is defined by dialectics, since standpoints are only defined in opposition to something else. Saami archaeology is no exception, and this field emerged precisely because of oppositions, when political conflicts enforced the realization of a lack of consideration of the Saami presence in the prevailing understanding of the past in ...

Sámi landscapes are pluralistic and contain traces of a variety of activities occurring in the past and present. This includes remains of medieval houses and hunting installations that are different from the ones used in later Sámi contexts. The Sámi have created their own interpretations of these enigmatic features in the landscape, relating, for instance, so-called ‘Stállo’ house grounds, reindeer ...

This paper presents new osteometric and stable isotope evidence of Sámi reindeer offerings. Previous archaeological studies have shown that reindeer domestication and intensification of reindeer herding transformed Sámi indigenous religion. However, because of the methodological challenges in the identification of wild and domesticated reindeer in the archaeological record, the exact nature of the ...